Thursday, June 24, 2010

The vast majority of golf course owners and boards of directors conduct strategic planning for their operations by the seat of their pants. Most of these decision makers have no empirical evidence prioritizing what capital improvements, if any, should be made for the facility. Instead these vast expenditures are made on hunches as to what the owners or boards thinks is important to the golfer.

The loyalty driver vs. importance driver rankings are determined by correlating the importance question on the corresponding factor to the loyalty question, where these two intersect is the point of measure. As you can see, when these two important metrics are measured at the intersect, Overall Course Conditions, Condition of Greens and Overall Value of Course; items in the upper right-hand quadrant become key factors to loyalty and importance. Items hovering around the value boundary are a point which effort should be made to improve a facility to bring more of the overall facility into the upper quadrants. Money and effort in golf shop items, in this case, would be an improvement low on the list for importance and loyalty. However, what the golfer says is important to them, is not what drives loyalty. Remember loyalty promotes word of mouth recommendations, the most powerful tool for golfer / member retention and new membership / golfer business.

The take-away of this message is if you’re after retaining or adding memberships and additional usage, it would be worth your while to improve the customer experience on what is driving customer loyalty, not necessarily what the customer says is important to them!

Monday, June 21, 2010

Managing a golf course involves many expenses. Essentially, you incur labor costs whenever you have employees working to maintain the course, landscape and equipment. It is not uncommon for the golf course labor budget to be upwards of 60% of the golf courses total budget. Labor is a valuable and large operational expense at all golf courses, large private clubs to small mom and pop operations. The labor line item is considered “Low Hanging Fruit” for many decision makers at the course. Being proactive with how you manage labor can increase your chances at success.

It is the superintendent’s job to fairly treat all employees equally and pay a wage that is commensurate with the job. However, all too often superintendents treat employees like family or friends and have feelings that overtime and extra hours will make-up for low wages or other preferential treatments will keep employees happy. When the line between employer and employee get blurred the superintendent can be committing an injustice to the employer by spending labor budget dollars that do not belong to the superintendent. Monies that are controlled by the superintendent should be used as wisely as possible, that is the trust between the club and the superintendent.

Labor Cost Awareness

Labor costs are typically understood in most businesses as a percentage of sales. I have several ways to compare how labor dollars should be applied to a golf course situation. No single method can accomplish this goal and a separate lengthy article can be written on this subject alone.

In the golf course business it’s difficult to have a standard metric for comparison of wages because of the differences of golf course size, geographic location, standards of maintenance and how to allocate golf course revenue against golf course income. In many businesses it’s easy to arrive at a percentage of sales that would be allocated to labor; manufacturing, restaurants and retail all come to mine, these businesses are easy enough to place an operating metric on appropriate labor. So the conundrum continues when trying to apply a labor metric to golf course maintenance. The following might help in arriving at some sense to this labor puzzle in the golf course business.

Control Your Labor Costs with Improved Worker Productivity

Increasing productivity improves your overall operation by building employee skills and confidence. Take time to provide your staff with sufficient training and communication.

Cross-Train Your Staff

Cross-training is beneficial to both the employee and the business, since the worker will have a wider range of skills and be able to help in multiple areas of the golf course. This allows the superintendent to schedule fewer workers while still being able to achieve the same production and maintenance standards. Some suggestions for cross-training include:

Train greens mowers to move cups and set tee markers

Train tee and rough mowers to set traffic signage and stakes

Train mechanic or mechanics’ assistant to mow fairways and rough

Allow set-up staff to combine as many jobs as practical

Conduct Frequent Staff Audits and Reviews

Another great way to help improve productivity is to perform regular labor audits. Take the time to watch and assess your employees’ performances. If you find that a large portion of your employees’ work days includes inordinately long breaks or downtime, it might be wise to revise your schedule. Conducting face-to-face reviews with each member of the staff will help communicate your thoughts and concerns.

Control Labor Cost With Precise Scheduling

Make sure you have constructed a budget to help keep track of your expenses like labor; it is also advisable to know what income levels the golf course has. Through your budget, you will be able to adjust to a percentage of your sales to compare with labor expenses (a good business model even for private clubs). Then, after a period of time you will be able to create a staffing schedule to reflect your budgeted allowance for labor expenses. The following tips elaborate these guidelines:

Break down your annual budget. Break down your annual budget into weekly budgets to help divide the money into sections. This will give you a weekly labor budget, from which you can determine labor costs and make an appropriate staffing schedules.

Design a new weekly schedule for all employees. Relying on a fixed schedule week after week fails to acknowledge shifts in projected sales, changes in the weather or other factors that can affect your business. Adjust the number of staff scheduled each week to keep compliant with weekly budget constraints. The golf course is a seven day per week operation, utilize:

Late day shifts

Morning only shifts

Weekdays off to compensate for weekend shifts

Use less busy daylight hours for rough mowing

Utilize more part-time workers

Start players off back nine during slow weekdays to keep rough mowers moving with player delays

Have employees take morning break in field without traveling back to maintenance shop

Plan work schedules at least one week in advance and post for all employees to review

Hire enough people and train to eliminate all overtime

Monitor clock in/clock out times.

At the end of each day, make sure that all employees have punched in and punched out exactly according to the schedule. Early and late punches can add-up significantly over the course of a season. Your states labor laws may force to pay for the closest quarter of an hour.

Discuss all schedule change requests in advance. Switching shifts can create problems when people start to work overtime, working more hours than the budget allows and potentially breaking a law, if the workers are youths. Be sure a manager is constantly aware of any proposed changes in the schedule.

Avoid Over-Staffing

It is often tempting to schedule more people than necessary in order to ensure that the business runs without any kinks. The reality is, however, that there will always be a few kinks in the golf course business. Scheduling too many employees will increase your labor costs, hurting your business overall. If you find that you have over-scheduled, you can send staff members home early. Train your people to work quickly, accurately and efficiently while also treating players with respect and care. This allows you to operate at a high standard while still hitting your target labor allocation.

Send me your email address with your golf course affiliation and I’ll send you a weekly staffing tool, you’ll be surprised how much time and labor resources you have. Most superintendents find they can accomplish more maintenance tasks with the same labor dollars when a refined scheduled is implemented.

Monday, June 14, 2010

I have done some research and discovered some interesting facts on soil; the following is what I have found. Some of the information is elementary other information makes good sense. Our soil systems are a complex interrelated living, breathing system. I don’t profess to be a soil scientist, I just interpreted these simple facts to be true.

The Living Soil

If you look out at an untouched landscape you might wonder how native prairies and forests function in the complete absence of fertilizers and other man made intervention. These soils are tilled by soil organisms, not by fancy Toro aerifiers. They are fertilized too, but the fertility is used again and again and never leaves the site. Native soils are covered with a layer of plant litter and/or growing plants throughout the year. Beneath the surface litter layer, a rich complexity of soil organisms decompose plant residue and dead roots, then release their stored nutrients slowly over time. In fact, topsoil is the most biologically diverse part of the earth. Soil-dwelling organisms release bound-up minerals converting them into plant-available forms that are then taken up by the plants growing on the site. The organisms recycle nutrients again and again from the death and decay of each new generation of plants growing on the site.

There are many different types of creatures that live on or in the soil. Each has a role to play. These organisms will work for the superintendents’ benefit if we simply manage for their survival. Consequently we may refer to them as soil livestock. While there is a great variety of organisms that contribute to soil fertility, earthworms, arthropods, and the various microorganisms merit particular attention.

Earthworms: Although earthworm cast on the surface of a tightly mown fairway turf are a bit of an inconvenience to players their role in soil management cannot be disputed. Earthworm burrows enhance water infiltration and soil aeration. Earthworm tunneling can increase the rate of water entry into the ground 4 to 10 times higher than soils that lack worm tunnels. This reduces water runoff, recharges groundwater, and helps store more soil water for drought spells. Vertical earthworm burrows allow gas exchange deeper into the soil, stimulating microbial nutrient cycling at those deeper levels. Tillage done by earthworms can replace some expensive aerification work done by machinery.

Worms eat dead plant material left on top of the soil and redistribute the organic matter and nutrients throughout the topsoil layer. Nutrient-rich organic compounds line the tunnels that may remain in place for years if not disturbed. During droughts these tunnels allow for deep plant root penetration into subsoil regions of higher moisture content. In addition to organic matter, worms also consume soil and soil microbes as they move through the soil. The soluble nutrient content of worm casts is considerably higher than those of the original soil. A good population of earthworms can process 20,000 pounds of soil per year, with turnover rates as high as 200 tons per acre.
Earthworms also secrete a plant growth stimulant. Reported increases in plant growth due to earthworm activity may be attributed to this substance - not just improved soil physical qualities.

Earthworms prefer a near neutral soil pH, moist soil conditions, and plenty of plant residue on the soil surface. They are sensitive to certain pesticides and some fertilizers. Carbamate (SEVIN) insecticides are harmful to earthworms, while synthetic pyrethroids are harmless to them. Most herbicides have little effect on worms except for the triazines, such as Atrazine, which are moderately toxic.

Arthropods: In addition to earthworms, there are many other species of soil organisms that can be seen by the naked eye. Among them are sowbugs, millipedes, centipedes, slugs, snails and springtails. These are the primary decomposers. Their role is to eat and shred the large particles of plant and animal residues. Some bury residue, bringing it into contact with other soil organisms that further decompose it. Some members of this group prey on smaller soil organisms. The springtails are a small insect, which eat mostly fungi. Their waste is rich in plant nutrients that are released after other fungi and bacteria decompose it.

Bacteria: Most numerous among soil organisms are the bacteria; every gram of soil contains at least a million of these tiny one-celled organisms. There are many different species of bacteria, each with its own role in the soil environment. One of the major benefits bacteria provide for plants is in helping them take up nutrients. Some species release nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, and trace elements from organic matter. Others break down soil minerals and release potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium and iron. Still other species make and release natural plant growth hormones, which stimulate root growth.

A few species of bacteria fix nitrogen in the roots of legumes while others fix nitrogen independently of plant association. Bacteria are responsible for converting nitrogen from ammonium to nitrate and back again depending on certain soil conditions. Other benefits to plants provided by various species of bacteria include increasing the solubility of nutrients, improving soil structure, fighting root diseases, and detoxifying soil.

Fungi: Fungi come in many different species, sizes and shapes in soil. Some species appear as thread-like colonies, while others are one-celled yeasts. Many fungi aid plants by breaking down organic matter or by releasing nutrients from soil minerals. Fungi are generally early to colonize larger pieces of organic matter and begin the decomposition process. Some fungi produce plant hormones, while others produce antibiotics compounds including penicillin. There are even species of fungi that trap harmful plant-parasitic nematodes.

Mycorrhizae: (my-cor-ry-'zee) group of fungi lives either on or in plant roots and act to extend the reach of root hairs into the soil. Mycorrhizae increase the uptake of water and nutrients especially in less fertile soils. Roots colonized by mycorrhizae are less likely to be penetrated by root-feeding nematodes since the pest cannot pierce the thick fungal network. Mycorrhizae also produce hormones and antibiotics, which enhance root growth and provide disease suppression. The fungi benefit from plant association by taking nutrients and carbohydrates from the plant roots they live in.

Actinomycetes: (ac"-ti-no-my'-cetes) are thread-like bacteria that look like fungi. While not as numerous as single celled bacteria, they also perform vital roles in the soil. Like the bacteria, they help decompose organic matter into humus, releasing nutrients. Actinomycetes are responsible for the sweet, earthy smell of biologically active soil noticed whenever soil is cultivated or aerified.

Actinomycetes are one of the most poorly understood groups of soil microorganisms. Although their populations in some soils can be high, their growth rates are far slower than other soil microorganisms.

Actinomycetes typically are more abundant in dryer soils high in organic matter or in high-temperature soils. As a group, they are not tolerant of low soil pH (less than 5.0). They grow best at temperatures that range from 80°F to 100°F. The major genera of soil Actinomycetes include Streptomyces, Nocardia, Micromonospora and Actinoplanes.

These organisms are best known for their ability to produce several industrially and medically important compounds. Many antibiotics important to human and animal medicine come from soil Actinomycetes. Like the fungi, Actinomycetes rely on organic matter for their nutrition. Actinomycetes are well-adapted to the decomposition of the more resistant plant polymers such as cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, as well as the fungal and insect polymer chitin. Because of this, Actinomycetes play a major role in the formation of humus in soils largely from the decomposition of the turf thatch layer.

Like some bacteria, Actinomycetes help suppress soil-borne turfgrass diseases. Many of the antibiotic compounds of Actinomycetes affect the growth and development of pathogenic fungi. Composts are particularly rich in pathogen-suppressing Actinomycetes. The beneficial effect of amending soils with composts is partly due to the disease-suppression properties of Actinomycetes.

For best Actinomycetes activity the superintendent should:

• Maintain soil moisture at constant levels, never allowing the soil to become overly dry. If other agronomic parameters are correct and microbial activity is high, disease should not be a less serious problem.

• Maintain good soil porosity. Use physical amendments if necessary. Adequate soil-oxygen levels are extremely important for soil all beneficial micro-organisms.

• Any practice that enhances the volume of the turfgrass root system; for example, aeration or raising the height of cut enhances microbial activity in the rhizosphere.

• If practical, limit the use of pesticides and growth regulators. Many of these have anti-microbial properties and may negatively impact soil and rhizosphere microbial communities.

Algae (Cyanobacteria): Algae and Cyanobacteria are often mistaken for each other in the soil matrix. An assortment or different species of algae also live in the upper half-inch of the soil. Unlike most other soil organisms, algae actually produce their own food through photosynthesis. They appear as a greenish film on the soil surface following a good rain. Algae may improve soil structure by producing slimy substances that glue soil together into water-stable aggregates in small populations. Some species of algae (Cyanobacteria) can fix their own nitrogen, some of which is later released to plant roots. High populations of algae and / or Cyanobacteria are not beneficial to soils and turf populations. The blue – green algae (Cyanobacteria) can easily overpopulate and is generally due to poor soil drainage, air movement and poor light exposure to turf areas. If left unchecked an overpopulation of this organism can seal – off soils and cause anaerobic conditions and eventual turf death.

Protozoa: Protozoa are free-living microorganisms that crawl or swim in the water between soil particles. Many soil protozoa are predatory, eating other microbes. One of the most common is an amoeba that eats bacteria. By eating and digesting bacteria, protozoa speed up the cycling of nitrogen from the bacteria, making it more available to plants.

Nematodes: While nematodes are abundant in most soils, only a few species are harmful to plants. The harmless species eat decaying plant litter, bacteria, fungi, algae, protozoa and other nematodes. Like other soil predators, nematodes speed the rate of nutrient cycling.

More on Mycorrhizae
Most grass species in their undisturbed natural environments form a beneficial association with mycorrhizal fungi. The resulting structure is called a mycorrhiza, or literally "fungus-root" (from myco meaning fungal and rhiza meaning root). Although several types of mycorrhizal fungi form mycorrhizae with plants, the largest group, -endomycorrhiza or also called arbuscular mycorrhizae form with most grass species. Mycorrhizal fungi are present in soil as spores, as hyphae in soil (filaments) or as colonized bodies. Hyphae of mycorrhizae penetrate into and between the outer cells of the root. Inside the root the fungus forms special coiled hyphae (arbuscules) that provide increased surface area for exchanges of food to the fungus and nutrients for the grass.

The mycorrhizal fungi once established on the turf root system radiate out from the roots to form a dense network of filaments. These filaments form an extensive system of hyphae that grow into the surrounding soil and provide a variety of benefits for the grass plant. This network of filaments obtains 15 major macro and micro nutrients and water and transport these materials back to the turf root system. Mycorrhizae are especially important for uptake of nutrients that do not readily move through the soil such as phosphorous and many of the micro-nutrients. The elaborate network of hyphae beneath the soil surface greatly increases the potential of the root system to absorb nutrients and water. The network also binds soil particles together, improves soil porosity and the movement of air and water within the soil.

New scientific advancements in the cost effective growing of certain mycorrhizal species beneficial to turf grass are rapidly bringing mycorrhizal products to the golf management marketplace. Healthy living soil and turf will retain nutrients, build soil structure, reduce stress and suppress disease, thus reducing the frequency and level of certain maintenance activities. Choosing to incorporate mycorrhizal fungi into aerification programs will not only benefit the environment but improves turf cover, rooting, fertilizer utilization, disease and drought resistance.

All these organisms–from the tiny bacteria up to the large earthworms and insects–interact with one another in a multitude of ways in a whole soil ecosystem. Organisms not directly involved in decomposing plant wastes may feed on each other or each other's waste products or the other substances they release. Among the other substances released by the various microbes are vitamins, amino acids, sugars, antibiotics, gums, and waxes.

Roots can also release various substances into the soil that stimulate soil microbes. These substances serve as food for select organisms. Some scientists and practitioners theorize that plants use this means to stimulate the specific population of microorganisms capable of releasing or otherwise producing the kind of nutrition needed by the plants.

Organic Matter, Humus and the Soil System
Critical to any model for sustainable soil management, is the understanding the role that soil organisms play, golf course superintendents should focus on strategies that build both their numbers and their diversity. That food for these soil organisms comes in the form of soil organic matter.

Organic matter and humus are terms that describe somewhat different but related things. Organic matter refers to the organic fraction of the soil that is composed of both living organisms and once-living residues in various stages of decomposition. Humus is only a small portion of the organic matter. It is the end product of organic matter decomposition and is relatively stable. Further decomposition of humus occurs very slowly in both cultured turf and natural settings. In natural systems, a balance is reached between the amount of humus formation and the amount of humus decay. In most turf grass soils, this balance also occurs, but often at a much lower level of soil humus. Humus contributes to well-structured soil that, in turn, produces high quality plants. It is clear that management of organic matter and humus is essential to sustain a vibrant interactive soil ecosystem.

The benefits of a soil rich in organic matter and humus are many. They include:

Soil organic matter can be compared to a bank account for plant nutrients. Soil containing 4% organic matter in the top 7 inches has 80,000 pounds of organic matter per acre. Those 80,000 pounds of organic matter will contain about 5.25% nitrogen, amounting to 4,200 pounds of nitrogen per acre. Assuming a 5% release rate during the growing season, the organic matter could supply 210 pounds of nitrogen to the turf grass plants. If the organic matter is allowed to degrade, purchased fertilizer will be necessary to prop up turf growth due to lost organic-matter nitrogen.

Ultimately, building organic matter and humus levels in the soil is a matter of managing the living organisms in the soil–something similar to wildlife management or animal husbandry. This entails working to maintain favorable conditions of moisture, temperature, nutrient status, pH, and aeration. It also involves providing a steady food source.

Organics and the Soil System
Soil management involves stewardship of the living soil systems. The primary factors affecting organic matter content, build-up, and decomposition rate in soils are: oxygen content, nitrogen content, moisture content, temperature, and the addition and removal of organic materials. All these factors work together at any one time. Any one can limit the others. These are the factors that affect the health and reproductive rate of organic matter decomposer organisms.

Superintendents need to be aware of these factors when making decisions about their soils. Let's take them one at the time.

Increasing oxygen speeds decomposition of organic matter. Aerification is the primary way extra oxygen enters the soil. Texture also plays a role, with sandy soils having more aeration than heavy clay soils. Nitrogen content is influenced by fertilizer additions. Excess nitrogen without the addition of carbon speeds the decomposition of organic matter. Moisture content affects decomposition rates. Soil microbial populations are most active over cycles of wetting and drying. Their populations increase following wetting as the soil dries out. After the soil becomes dry, their activity diminishes. Just like humans, soil organisms are profoundly affected by temperature. Their activity is highest within a band of optimum temperature. Above and below optimum temperature their activity is diminished. Adding organic matter provides more food for microbes.

To achieve an increase of soil organic matter, additions must be higher than removals. Over a given year, under average conditions, 60 to 70 percent of the carbon contained in organic residues added to soil is lost as carbon dioxide. Five to ten percent is assimilated into the organisms that decomposed the organic residues and the rest becomes 'new' humus. It takes decades for new humus to develop into stable humus which imparts the nutrient holding characteristics humus is known for. The end result of adding a ton of residue would be 400 to 700 pounds of new humus. With a 7-inch depth of topsoil over an acre weighing 2 million pounds, you can see that building organic matter is a slow process. One percent organic matter weighs 20,000 pounds.

Building stable humus is a slow and long-term process. It is more feasible to stabilize and maintain the humus present before it is lost than to try to increase it. The value of humus is not fully realized until it is severely depleted. If your soils are high in humus now, work hard to preserve what you have. The formation of new humus is essential to maintaining old humus and the decomposition of raw organic matter has many benefits of its own. Increased aeration caused by aerification coupled with the absence of organic carbon in fertilizer materials can caused greater than 50% decline in native humus levels on many US golf courses.

Appropriate mineral nutrition needs to be present for soil organisms and plants to prosper. Adequate levels of calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, sodium and the trace elements should be present but not in excess. Several books have been written on balancing soil mineral levels and several consulting firms provide soil analysis and fertility recommendation services based on that theory.

Nitrogen Applications
Excess nitrogen applications stimulate increased microbial activity that speeds organic matter decomposition. The extra nitrogen narrows the ratio of carbon to nitrogen in the soil. In well balanced native soils the carbon to nitrogen ratio (C : N ratio) is around 12:1. At this ratio, populations of organic matter decay and bacteria are kept at a stable level. When large amounts of inorganic nitrogen are added, the C : N ratio is reduced, which increases the populations of decay organisms and allows them to decompose more organic matter. While soil bacteria can efficiently use moderate applications of inorganic nitrogen accompanied by organic amendments (carbon), excess nitrogen causes bacteria populations to explode, decomposing existing organic matter at a rapid rate.

Eventually, soil carbon content may be reduced to a level where the bacterial populations are on a starvation diet. With little carbon available, bacterial populations shrink and less free soil nitrogen is absorbed. Thereafter, applied nitrogen, rather than being cycled through microbial organisms and re-released to plants slowly over time, becomes subject to leaching. This can greatly reduce the efficiency of fertilization and lead to environmental problems.

To compensate for the fast decomposition of native soil organic matter, carbon should be added with nitrogen. Typical sources–such as activated sewage sludge, animal manure and compost–serve this purpose well. Amendments containing too high a carbon to nitrogen ratio (25:1 or more) can tip the balance the other way, resulting in nitrogen tied up in an unavailable form. The soil organisms consume all the nitrogen in an effort to decompose the abundant carbon. The nitrogen is unavailable because it is tied up in the soil organisms themselves. As soon as one dies and decomposes, its nitrogen is consumed by another soil organism until the balance between carbon and nitrogen is achieved again.

Humates
Humates and humic acid derivatives are a diverse family of products, generally obtained from various forms of oxidized coal. Coal-derived humus is essentially the same as humus extracts from soil but there has been reluctance in some circles to accept it as a worthwhile soil additive. In part, this stems from a belief that only humus derived from recently decayed organic matter is beneficial. It is also true that the production and recycling of organic matter in the soil cannot be replaced by coal-derived humus. However, while sugars, gums, waxes and similar materials derived from fresh organic-matter decay play a vital role in both soil microbiology and structure, they are not humus. Only a small portion of the organic matter added to the soil will ever be converted to humus. Most will return to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide as it decays.

Many studies have shown positive effects of humates, while other studies have shown no effects. Generally, the consensus is that they work well in low organic matter soils. In low amounts they do not produce positive results on soils high in organic matter. At high rates they may tie up soil nutrients.

There are many humus products on the market. They are not all the same. Humate products should be evaluated in a small test plot for cost effectiveness before using. Sales people sometimes make exaggerated claims for their products.

Sum it Up
Humates, many forms of bacteria, fungi and Mycorrhizae play a significant role on a well balanced soil strategy. The import take-away of this message is that application of any chemical and/or fertilizer product will have and effect on organic content in the soil. Choose your weapons carefully!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Take this QUIZjust for fun; it's about every day stuff that's all around us. The average correct number of answers is just seven, I'll bet golf course superintendents do much better! Thanks to my friend Corey Eastwood for sending me the link.